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This guy has some serious nerve, and he’s delusional if he thinks I’ll actually listen. “Yeah, I’m not doing that.”

“There are two ways we can do this.” His voice remains calm, probably well aware by now I don’t take kindly to orders.

“What? The easy way or the hard way?” I ask dryly, crossing my arms in front of me.

“You can listen to me the first time I tell you to do something and maybe you can leave. Or you can fight me. Just know, I’ll fight back. And I promise, Vix,” the corner of his lips tugs up, “I strike harder.”

“You’d hit a girl?”

“Oh no, darlin’. Physical pain is too temporary.” Our eyes lock and he relaxes farther into the armchair. “Down.” The harsh bite in his tone leaves no room for discussion. This isn’t something I can walk away from. He’s going to keep me here until I play his little game.

“Fuck you,” I whisper, sinking to my knees.

“Now crawl to me.”

I hold his gaze, feeling the inferno pool inside me. My fingers curl into my palms and I take a deep breath, lowering to the position he wants me in, and I fucking crawl.

He wears no expression. No remorse. He’s humiliating me for the simple reason that he can.

I make my way to him, stopping when I reach his legs. Rhenn doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t hint at further instructions. Just watches me.

The luminosity from the fire behind me sways across his features. It makes him look softer. Like a man and not a monster.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t one.

“You have me on my knees in front of you. Now what?” I ask, resentful and just as unexpressive as he is.

There’s no answer, though, the look etched across every hard line in his face suggests he wants to slam my head into the wall. My very existence angers this beast, and some small part of me rejoices at the fact I can hold that kind of power over him.

“Maybe,” I start slowly, placing my hand over Rhenn’s knee. His eyes flash away from mine, surveying the way my fingers work their way up his thigh. “Maybe you forced me here because this is the only way you can get a girl to look at you. Because when they see you, when they learn what you are, there’s nothing left for them to want.” My fingers trail higher. “So you have to make them bow to you.”

Rhenn catches my hand, his grip almost painful. He pulls me up so I’m lifted on my knees, bringing my body close to his.

“I’ll never bow,” I spit, feeling his muscles tense around me.

“I don’t want you to bow, Vix. I want you to break.” His woodsy scent envelops me, cedar and pine. There’s a crackle from the fireplace, the pile of wood falling onto itself. The sound distracts Rhenn, stealing his focus away from me. I use the moment, hauling us back. He’s already leaned so far forward that gravity does most of the work. A light clang sounds beside me, his knife falling from his pocket and hitting the floor.

I maneuver my way on top of him, pressing down on his shoulders and staring into the deep pools of smoky grays looking back at me. He doesn’t fight me, but studies me, gauging how far I’ll go. There’s so much anger inside me, begging to be released. Anger for him, and anger for everything from my life before. I’m trapped by it, wanting so badly to take every bit of it out on this man.

For the briefest moment, I see something strange while I watch over him. A cloud of near black ebony flashes through his eyes. It’s fogged, like a mist drifting across his peripheral, so fast I hardly notice it. It’s the same thing I’d seen before. The logical part of my brain is telling me I should be terrified. Instead, I’m transfixed by it.

Beautiful creatures can be bad, and something in this one draws me close.

“There’s a darkness in you,” Rhenn notes, moving to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “It’s in me too.”

I know it is. I’ve seen it in him. It calls to my own.

Before I realize what’s happening, I’m flipped to my back, Rhenn on top now. There’s a cool wisp of his breath against my cheek as he watches me, like there’s something he’s searching for.

It doesn’t matter how hard he digs, there’s nothing for him to find. It isn’t just a darkness inside me, it’s worse. It’s nothing. Beneath my surface I am nothing more than an empty shell.

His fingers slide higher up my arms, a well of warmth surrounding them.

When I think bad, I think cold. He isn’t cold. Rhenn is fire. A blaze that consumes me. It isn’t just the deep rasp of his voice, his messy dark hair, or even the firm lines contouring his arms. It’s something inside of him. Rhenn touches me and it’s like a piece of my soul wants to drag him closer, to leap inside of him and see what lurks beneath.

It’s so strange. The hands of others usually make me lock up. Having another person touch me, especially when I’m not the one controlling the motions, when I’m not the one allowing it, it’s closer to internal combustion. But with Rhenn, his hands don’t ignite that deep discomfort. Even with his spiteful words, I feel him. Not the nausea. Not the panic. Just him.

Smoky eyes fall to my mouth, holding his focus there for several long seconds before bringing his attention back up. Subtle flecks of silver catch in the fire’s light, contrasting vividly against the deeper shades of granite making up his irises. His face shows anger, but his eyes are wounded.